


Shattered (Or Not)

by Maquiskat (Lilahkat)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-22
Updated: 2011-06-22
Packaged: 2017-10-20 15:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilahkat/pseuds/Maquiskat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scene addition to Shattered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered (Or Not)

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Yael. I’m with you on the already have a relationship thing!

“Temporal Prime Directive…” Kathryn smiled mischievously. Chakotay stared at her for a moment and started to chuckle. No longer being able to hold back the laughter, it turned into a deep full-chested rumble.

Kathryn for her part didn’t laugh, but her grin grew larger.

Chakotay caught his breath and shook his head at her, “You remember don’t you?”

Kathryn got up from where she had been lazing on the couch and looked him in the eyes. “Damn straight!”

Chakotay started laughing again. “Why the wheedling?”

“It’s more fun that way,” she answered as she finished her cider in one long pull. “Besides I don’t think I remember everything, just enough.”

Chakotay laughed again, until he caught the narrowing of her eyes.

“I’m glad you find it so amusing, maybe you’d like to find yourself on the other side of the –barrier- again.” Kathryn glared at him.

Chakotay nearly choked on the mouthful of cider he had just taken.

“BARRIERS WE NEVER CROSS, hmmm?” Kathryn’s hands became fully attached to her hips.

Chakotay stood in front of her and gently pulled one of Kathryn’s hands away from their annoyed position at her hips. Looking into her eyes, capturing them with his own. An inaudible sigh escaped Kathryn’s lips before she had a chance to quell it, but she continued to look annoyed with him.

“Kath, how would I tell a you, who still was… is engaged to Mark Johnson, who hadn’t even left the Alpha Quadrant yet that she has a relationship with her Maquis First Officer. What would you have done?” Chakotay asked.

“She … I …believed… in you, already,” Kathryn’s voice was barely audible. “You could have saved us so much wasted…”

“Shhh,” Chakotay pressed his fingers against her lips. “I know, I could feel it too. I couldn’t risk what we have now, just to gain a few years. What if she’d second guessed herself about us, or started second guessing her decisions over me? Or what if we did get back those years, but we made our decisions differently because of it?”

A crooked grin slowly came to her lips as he pulled his hand away. “I guess you know me too well…”

“Besides it is true in a way. There are barriers we don’t cross. You won’t marry me…” Chakotay’s face contorted into a mischievous grin.

“Until we get to the Alpha Quadrant.” Kathryn shook her head at him, “I accepted your engagement ring.” She pulled out the chain she kept tucked under her turtleneck on which a sparkling ring hung close to her heart and let it fall outside the confines of her tunic. He smiled and touched the ring, enjoying the warmth it held from laying so close to her body. “Is it so bad what we have right now?” She asked. Her voice wavering a bit.

Chakotay’s face took on a serious look. “Let’s see. We don’t live together, but we at least have dinner together at least once a week. I don’t wake up in your arms every morning, but when I need you or you need me, we do seek each other out. I can’t show you off to all my friends, to the world, “ He smiled then and pulled Kathryn to him encasing her in his warmth, “but when you’re in my arms the only thing that exists in my universe is us. So no, it’s not so bad.” He released her enough that she could see his face and the dimpled grin it held.

Her eyes though they held barely contained tears, graced him with a smile that outshone Earth’s sun as far as he was concerned. “If we don’t make it home this year, I am announcing our engagement to everyone. No more hiding. No more waking up alone.” Her voice was determined. “You know, she knew how I felt about you when you told her I loaned you Dante’s Inferno. The book Mark gave me. It seems silly to wait when even a version of me that hasn’t been with you for seven years, who is still engaged to Mark, can feel how I feel.”

“Kath, don’t do this just because of me. I will wait, no matter how long it takes.” Chakotay stroked her cheek.

“I’m tired of hiding too, Chakotay. There are things we can’t have, things that I think we both want, as long as we are hiding. Things I’m not willing to sacrifice because we’re out here.” Kathryn turned in his arms so she could look out the viewport.

Chakotay rested his chin on top of her head taking in her convoluted way of saying that without saying the actual words. They still had kinks to work out of this relationship, but in a way he was grateful for all the ‘wasted’ time now. It had proved to him that no matter what; Kathryn and Chakotay would survive as a couple. They had weathered the very worst of each other and still wanted to be together. When the relationship sorted itself out, it would last forever. However the mood in the room had turned decidedly somber and he decided to lighten it, “I would have thought you’d make me wait at least ten years, the way you did Mark. Eight… I feel privileged.”

Kathryn turned back around and hit Chakotay’s arm. “You are a bad man.” She smiled. “I may make you wait ten now.” He feigned a wounded look at her. She laughed. “No, I better get you attached to me and soon, otherwise someone else will come along and steal you from me. ”

“No one can steal me from you, ever.” Chakotay’s embrace tightens imperceptibly.

“You say that now… But wait until you meet my sister, in the Alpha Quadrant.”

“What does she look like again?” Chakotay asked, eyes glittering like polished stones.

“You’re a horrible man…” Kathryn tried to look serious but her amusement shone through in her eyes.

Chakotay bent forward slowly, as though preparing to kiss her, then playfully rubbed her nose with his. Their eyes caught each other’s and they fell into each other’s gaze.


End file.
